With tax season in full swing, a number of you might be coming to the conclusion you owe the government a bit of money. If you're considering charging it on your credit card, Smart Money suggests factoring in the often overlooked convenience fee before you pay up.

The convenience fee is in place of the usually invisible merchant fees at retailers. These can amount to up to 2.35% of your transaction. What does this mean? Smart Money breaks it down:

Paying $9.40 for the convenience of charging a $400 tax bill to your credit card isn't really a sin. But what about paying $117.50 on a $5,000 tax bill? And unless you pay off that bill within your credit-card issuer's grace period, you'll start getting charged interest (often at 12% or more annually).

If you owe a lot of money, Smart Money suggests you check to see if you qualify for the IRS installment-payment plan. If that fails, they suggest tracking down a credit card with an APR lower than 5% to pay off your tax tab. Check out the full post on Smart Money for a few more tips.